Earth Day is NO YOLK!

Sunday

Apr 21, 2013 at 9:59 AMApr 21, 2013 at 10:02 AM

Laura Kurella

QUIP: Many people buy bottled water, so many in fact, that over 28 billion bottles of water are consumed each year in the U.S. alone. According to the Container Recycling Institute, more than 80% of those 28 billion containers end up in the trash - rather than being recycled. In addition to making sure that empty bottle gets into a recycle bin instead of a landfill, it’s also a great idea to look for other uses for these convenient containers, especially on Earth Day.

TIP:Empty water bottles can do quite a few things after they have served their initial purpose. I like to fill them with more water and reuse them until they start to look disgusting, then I toss them in the recycle bin.

Another great idea is to refill them and then freeze them so that you have ice packs for your lunch pail or cooler. These are great because they can take all day to thaw and can be re frozen time and again. They also take up little space in the freezer and if you have more than one person packing lunches, you will always be sure to have plenty of ice packs on hand.

Another use is to cut the bottom of the bottle off – recycle it - and use the remainder as a disposable funnel. Bottles can be cut in other ways, say to make a convenient scoop for that bag of dog or cat food or kitty litter.

And last, but certainly not least, is as an egg separator – yes, you heard me right!Simply crack an egg into a bowl and have a second bowl ready and waiting.Press the air out of the water bottle and then place mouth of bottle gently on top of yolk. Slowly let go of your grip on the bottle so that the suction created will pull the entire yolk into the bottle.Now that the yolk has been separated from the white, simply hold the bottle over whatever container you want to transfer the yolk to and squeeze the bottle one last time. The yolk will pop out of the bottle – in one piece if you are gentle – and your white will be left with NO YOLK!